Kanye Made Contradiction Sound Beautiful
On Kanye West, the grandeur of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, and why a beautiful record should never become a permission slip.
MUSIC / 10 ESSAYS
The noise that stays.
Records as rooms. Voices as weather. These are listening notes about the sounds that refuse to become background, from Kanye and Travis Scott to the stranger corners of electronic music and rap.
The Architecture of a Travis Scott Song
Travis Scott is at his most interesting when a song behaves like a place. On atmosphere, changing scale, and the rooms inside ASTROWORLD.
Burial Makes Loneliness Feel Inhabited
On Burial’s Untrue, damaged voices, and the peculiar comfort of music that gives loneliness a room without pretending to cure it.
Yeezus Still Sounds Like a Door Being Kicked In
Yeezus makes a case for friction. I think its abrasive surfaces matter because they refuse to make every feeling immediately comfortable.
Jai Paul and the Right to Leave a Rough Edge
Jai Paul’s Bait Ones makes me question the demand for immaculate completion. Some rough edges carry information that polish would erase.
Rodeo Was Better When It Felt Unstable
A case for the restless ambition of Travis Scott’s Rodeo, where excess becomes interesting because it still sounds capable of falling apart.
Billy Woods Refuses to Explain the Whole Room
On billy woods and Kenny Segal’s Maps, the value of withheld context, and why a listener should sometimes have to do the work of listening.
Dean Blunt and the Suspicion of Sincerity
Dean Blunt’s Black Metal makes uncertainty about sincerity part of the music. I think the fear of being fooled can become its own kind of dishonesty.
Autechre Makes Me Work for the Feeling
On Autechre, unfamiliar musical shapes, and the difference between giving a record patient attention and treating difficulty as a badge.
The Album Is Still a Better Home Than the Playlist
Playlists are useful, but I think the album asks more interesting things of a listener. A defense of sequence, awkward transitions, and staying put.